Jeff Grubb gets his Hutt on in ‘Star Wars: Scourge’ (Book review)
Hutts have come a long way, baby, since we first met Jabba the Hutt in 1983’s “Return of the Jedi.” I remember being excited by the notion of meeting Jabba’s dad in the 1993 kids’ […]
‘Chernobyl Diaries’ a creepy trek through a radioactive ghost town (Movie review)
“Chernobyl Diaries” is a great launch to the summer horror movie season, a spooky journey through a ghost town, a blue-collar burg with bland government-style architecture that was quickly abandoned three decades ago in the wake […]
John’s all-time top 5 Canadian character dramas (TV commentary)
Canadian TV gets short shrift in the U.S., where most cable packages offer Univision and BBC America but not CBC. And often when you mention “Canadian TV” people think of “The X-Files” or other American […]
With ‘Apocalypse,’ Denning delivers a rousing final installment in the ‘Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi’ series (Book review)
Troy Denning mutes his weaknesses and emphasizes his strengths to deliver a satisfying, character-driven final installment of the much-maligned nine-book “Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi” series. I liked the series more than most readers, […]
In ‘The Dictator,’ Sacha Baron Cohen makes another awful person rather likable (in the context of the film, at least) (Movie review)
“The Dictator” is one of those comedies where you like a despicable main character simply because he’s the main character. This works only in the movie world, and it’s a particularly effective phenomenon in Sacha Baron […]
John’s 10 favorite TV characters at the moment (Commentary)
The 2011-12 TV season has almost faded to snow and the dust has settled from the cancellation carnage. Looking back, I’d say it was a very good season for characters. That’s why I’m resurrecting my […]
Preston and Child do impressive ‘24’ impression in ‘Gideon’s Corpse’ (Book review)
Last year’s “Gideon’s Sword” was a somewhat rocky start to Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s new Gideon Crew series that felt a bit like a James Bond update. The second novel, “Gideon’s Corpse” (January, hardcover) is a […]
Ron Swanson: TV’s greatest libertarian character ever? (Commentary)
Since I’m venturing into politics with this post (which will eventually be about television), I’ll admit my bias up front: I’ll be voting for the Libertarian Party ticket of Johnson-Gray in November. But I think anyone who’s […]
‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Han Solo at Stars’ End’ (1979-80) (Book and comic review)
In an interview with Star Wars Insider, Jeff Grubb (author of the new novel “Scourge,” which I’ll review in a future post), separates “Star Wars” novels into three categories: Jedi books, war books and “scum […]
5 buzzworthy season finales (TV commentary)
It’s that time of year when summer movies start to steal the headlines from TV, but boob-tube fans have one last gasp, at least: The May season finales. Due to the evolving TV calendar, it’s […]